In the field of printing, users desire systems that allow for flexible processing of print jobs. Print jobs typically comprise print data (i.e., the data used to generate a printed output) as well as a job ticket. The job ticket defines processing steps that may be performed for the print job. For example, the job ticket may request that the print data be given a “preflight” analysis before printing in order to check for errors, may request that the printed output be stapled, may define a media or marking material to be used during printing, etc. The processing steps defined by a job ticket may also be referred to as a workflow.
Job tickets may be defined in a number of formats. For example, Job Definition Format (JDF) is a popular Extensible Markup Language (XML) format used for storing job ticket instructions. Similarly, Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) job tickets may be used to define AFP workflows including print data and printer-server communications. While users desire printing systems that are highly interoperable with each other, there remains no way to integrate support for JDF job tickets in AFP architecture. This is unfortunate because users that have a substantial investment in AFP printing systems may not wish to replace their existing production printing equipment in order to utilize workflows defined in JDF.